Hope in a Dark Place
by Laughter comes from Living
Summary: After the hunger games, she is lost. Reliving the nightmares of that time is too much. So she retreats far into herself where only one person can reach her.


**This story is based on the video made by Mainstay Pro about Finnick and Annie's relationship throughout their lives. I loved how they portrayed this couple as they both mature and have to face the reality of the world they live in. More precisely, this idea struck me after I watched the sixth episode.**

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It was dark. Everything was black, shadows hiding anything that was there. There was no light yet the area was visible. All around walls stretched up forever, giving the feeling that they would fall in on you momentarily.

I was walking through the gloom, worn out from the frantic running I did not that long ago. Now it was a struggle to keep putting one foot in front of the other. They dragged on the dirt floor, echoing up the walls, filling the cavern with a shaky but constant th-thump, th-thump.

It was a maze with no beginning and maybe no end. Corridors twisted and turned all around me, branching off every so often. Nothing was here to tell me if I was walking in circles. If all this was pointless. Randomly I would turn at a crossroads only to be met with a dead end. Each time the wall rose up in front of me, it was harder to turn around, to keep walking.

But I did. I don't even understand why, I just walked. Maybe it was out of habit. Or simply something to do in this unchanging place. I walked on, wondering if there was anything but dead ends in this maze. But there was always another path to walk up, to explore. So I continued.

Time passed, yet it never seemed like it did. The light never changed, making it a never ending dusk. The maze was always the same: dark, endless, twisting passageways. The sounds were always the same: Silence except for my footsteps, echoing off the walls. Th-thump, th-thump.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the maze lightened. It was barely perceptible but my eyes, so used to the almost-blackness, picked up on the subtle change. I was getting somewhere. Not fast, no not fast at all, but I was. I was making my way through this, albeit gradually and in a very roundabout way.

Th-thump, th-thump. Steady and slow my footsteps continued their trek through the corridors. At random intervals memories would overcome my sight. Causing me to relive my horrific past. I ignored them as best I could, stubbornly continuing my march through the maze. Still I stumbled at some of the memories: so gruesome, so real. Yet I pressed on. Sometimes because I believed it was the only way out of the memories; other times simply out of habit. The visions of my past became more frequent as I continued on through the maze. I had to concentrate on moving forward, on not giving up, as each memory assaulted my vision.

Yet spread between the horrors was something unheard of. Something pleasant. It jarred with the dreariness of the place. But not in an unsettling way. It called me away from the maze. All these memories revolved around one person. My lifeline throughout everything. So through all imaginable nightmares I walked because I knew that the next vision could be his face.

Th-thump, th-thump. I was getting closer to the end, if there was one. New sounds reached my ears; it was not my footsteps. I faltered. It had been too constant for too long for me to accept the change. Garbled voices echoed around the cavern, moving up and down the pathways. Some were just talking, some were pleading, some were screaming. They tugged at something inside of me. Leaving me fragile, broken, bleeding with their pain. It was too much. I just wanted to turn around and run. Run back down the twisting passages, down into the darkness, down into the confusion of the maze. I wanted to be lost again.

Then I heard it. His voice. His voice saying my name. Nothing else. Simply my name. My breath caught and for the first time it was not out of fear, pain, hopelessness. It was out of anticipation. So I walked, enduring the voices that sometimes matched my living nightmares, that sometimes seemed normal. But nothing here was normal.

Th-thump, th-thump. I trudged onward hoping, for the first time, to see someone. To not be alone, to have someone's hand to hold. No, not someone. Him. I wanted him to protect me, to comfort me.

There was a light around the next corner. I could see the change even from here. Suddenly I was filled with apprehension; I didn't know what would be beyond that point. I didn't know if I should be excited or frightened. My breathing didn't change though. It stayed constant even as I was bursting with uncertainty. My footsteps didn't speed up even as I wanted them to. They were still a steady rhythm: th-thump, th-thump.

Finally I turned the corner. The light was blinding, forcing my eyes closed. I was abruptly aware of many things. The memories were behind me. They would always haunt me, torment me. They were seared into my mind, forever a part of who I was. But perhaps I could live, perhaps I could face reality. With this resolve, I opened my eyes.

Greeting me was the familiar view of the ocean, stretching out forever in front of me. The sun was throwing a pink reflection on the sparkling waves. It had been such a long time since I saw something pink, something real, something beautiful.

I could feel sand underneath me, something tucked behind my ear. I could feel my heart beating a steady th-thump, th-thump in my chest. Yet I was most aware of the man sitting beside me. Close enough to feel his heat caressing my side, warming me more than the fire on the other side of my body could ever hope to.

For a moment I struggled with myself. I didn't know how to react, how to reach out to him. Until finally I gathered my fractured thoughts and the small amount of courage I had left. My voice came out hoarse and quiet, but he heard. He had to hear.

"Hey Finn."


End file.
